Gentle rain washed across the pristine flagstones of Canterlot. Quiet thunder rumbled in the distance. Princess Celestia loved quiet, rainy evenings. They made for an excellent time to relax, steal away from the stress of ruling Equestria, and catch up on her reading.
She had just selected a book from her personal library and was headed for her chambers when a guard galloped up to her, dripping rainwater all over the seven-hundred-year-old, priceless carpet. "Your Highness!" the stallion gasped out, coughing violently; apparently he had managed to get some of that rainwater in his lungs as well.
"Calm yourself, my little pony," Celestia said soothingly.
The guard coughed wetly, then stood tall and proud, though his eyes still showed panic. "Princess, you need to come to the infirmary immediately," he said.
Concerned, Celestia followed the guard to the palace infirmary. When they arrived, a nurse greeted them and cautioned them to be silent. She directed them to a table, where the royal physician was examining a tiny pink pegasus foal. The little pegasus squirmed fitfully as two unicorns used gentle drying spells to expunge the rainwater from her pearl pink coat and violet mane.
The physician smiled with a relieved sigh. "She's healthy. I'll give her some antibiotics and cast a health spell on her just to make sure she doesn't get sick. Thankfully, she wasn't exposed to the rain for very long."
Celestia frowned. "What is going on here? Where did this foal come from?"
The guard who had led her to the infirmary shook his head. "A cloaked pony left her at the palace gate, then ran off. Two guards are trying to find that pony now. I had the foal brought to the infirmary, then came to find you."
"Your Highness?" a nurse spoke up. "There was a note in the basket...addressed to you."
Celestia seized the offered note in her magic, unrolled it, and read it aloud.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm all alone in the world, except for this foal. I was so afraid she would be born dead, because I am very sick. My doctor says I won't live to see the Summer Sun Celebration. That makes me sad, because it is my favorite time of the year.
Celestia looked up in alarm. "But...that's next week!" The ponies around her looked at one another, nopony quite meeting anypony else's eyes. Celestia continued reading, a hitch in her voice.
I have no right to ask this of you, but please...see to it my little Cadenza is loved. She's the only thing in my life that has ever had meaning, and soon...soon she'll be all that's left of me.
The note fell to the floor as Celestia bowed her head, shedding silent tears. Nopony spoke; everypony looked away from their Princess, allowing her to grieve for a mare she would never know.
The thunder grew closer to the palace. The foal shifted around and let out a quiet, pitiful cry. Celestia looked up at that, and used her wings to dry her eyes. She walked over to the table where the foal lay and gently nuzzled her. Cadenza snuffled softly and looked up at her with soft, bright purple eyes.
The guard shifted uncomfortably. "Your Highness? I...I can start a search for a family looking to adopt. I'm sure we can find a family for her by tomorrow."
"No," Celestia said. "That will not be necessary. I will care for her myself." She wrapped the foal in her magic and lifted her onto her back. Cadenza giggled and squealed as she floated through the air, then rubbed herself happily against Celestia's soft white coat. Smiling, Celestia turned and left the infirmary.
* * * * *
"Good afternoon, Cadenza. How was school today?"
Cadenza, now six years old and impetuous, stamped her cute little pink hoof and ruffled her wings. "Auntie!" she squeaked. "I told you, call me Cadance! Cadenza sounds dorky."
Celestia chuckled softly. "Alright then, Cadance. How was school today?"
"It was okay," Cadance said. She made a face. "Except for that dorky colt."
Celestia rolled her eyes. "Oh, that 'dorky colt' again?"
"Yeah-huh!" Cadance said, stamping her hoof again. "He put a booger in my mane! He's gross!"
Celestia snickered. "Well, colts can't help being gross." She gave her niece an impish smile. "So the next time he puts a booger in your mane..." She trotted over and leaned closer, whispering in Cadance's ear.
Cadance's eyes widened. "EWWW!" she cried, giggling. "Auntie!"
"Now, you'd best go get your afternoon snack quickly. It's almost time for your flying lesson."
* * * * *
Cadance opened the door to her suite and immediately sensed something was wrong. The normally bright room was pitch black. She edged forward nervously.
"SURPRISE!"
The room abruptly became painfully bright, and colorful confetti exploded in Cadance's face. She looked around, wide-eyed and startled, to find her aunt, her stuck-up cousin Blueblood, the two maids who took care of her when Celestia was busy, her flight instructor, and all her friends filling the suite almost to bursting. A buffet table had sprouted in the middle of the room, covered in treats and drinks, and streamers hung all over the ceiling.
Celestia stepped forward, eyes bright and happy, and smiled at her. "Come on, let's see it then!" she said anxiously.
Cadance blushed and turned sideways so that the entire room had a clear view of her flank. Yesterday, it had been blank. Today, it sported a trio of glossy heart-shaped bubbles: two red, one white.
"Tell us, Cadenza, however did you earn your Cutie Mark?" Blueblood asked with clearly feigned interest.
Cadance was too elated to care about stupid Pooblood's snooty attitude. She grinned from ear to ear at the room full of ponies as she told her epic tale:
"I saw two ponies on a date who were being stupid and yelling at each other, and I reminded them that they're supposed to be in love. They told me to mind my own business, but I showed them! I stood on the table and called them both stupid dummies and said if they'd just stop being stupid for a minute they'd remember why they were together in the first place. And it worked! They were kissing when I left."
Several of the ponies present giggled. Several more wore chagrined expressions. Celestia snickered. "Well, that's...an interesting way to discover your special talent, little one. But...perhaps in the future, you can find a more tactful way of helping ponies?"
Cadance looked at the floor, cheeks burning. "Aheh...umm...yeah. I mean," she cleared her throat, "Yes, Your Highness."
"Well, what are we all standing around for?" Celestia asked. "This is a cute-ceañera! Let's all enjoy ourselves!"
Cadance immediately ran over to her friends, who hopped around her, giggling. The group attacked the buffet, and Celestia watched them, smiling.
* * * * *
Cadance flew another lazy lap around her aunt's study. "What're you reading, Auntie?" she asked.
Celestia studied an ancient, musty tome which lay open on her desk. "This is a very old manuscript," she said. "It was found in the Athenaeum beneath the castle, and I would know this frenzied calligraphy anywhere. This was written by Starswirl the Bearded himself."
Cadance nearly crashed into a wall. "Starswirl?! Wow, I thought every book he'd ever written was in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing!"
"As did I, because I placed them there myself," Celestia said. "This tome...I've never seen it before."
"So what is it? What does it say?" Cadance asked, hovering over her aunt excitedly.
"It...appears to be a spell," Celestia said. "At least, I think it is. It's incomplete. And the spell components..." She traced several runes inscribed around the words on the page with a hoof, then shook her head. "These spell components make no sense. And this incantation..." She frowned. "Either Starswirl was so senile at the end he forgot how to compose a spell, or..."
"Or?"
"Or this is magic on so advanced a level even I don't understand it."
"Is that even possible?" Cadance asked, eyes wide.
Celestia chuckled. "I may know more about magic than anypony living today, but Starswirl forgot more about magic than I will ever know. And he only lived one hundred and twenty-two years!" Looking back down at the book, she sighed. "I can't even begin to figure this spell out. It doesn't even look like it does anything." Absently, her horn began to glow as she read the spell, reflexively shaping the pattern of magic described by the inlaid runes. "From one to another, another to one...a mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled..."
A lance of shining golden light erupted from her horn, spearing Cadance. "Auntie!" the filly shrieked.
Celestia looked up, eyes wide in alarm. "What—?!"
Cadance screamed as the light engulfed her. Her wings stilled, and she dropped to the ground.
"CADANCE!" Celestia cried, rearing in terror. "What have I done?!"
She leaned down to examine Cadance. She was breathing, and her heart was still beating. Celestia almost allowed herself to relax...but then her gaze drifted to her darling niece's flank.
It was bare.
Her Cutie Mark had vanished.
Heart hammering against her ribs, Celestia swept Cadance up onto her back and teleported directly to the infirmary.
* * * * *
"She's in a coma," the doctor said sadly. "I can't even venture a guess as to when she'll wake up, and...I'm afraid I've never heard of anything that would erase a pony's Cutie Mark."
Celestia lay down at Cadance's side, draping a wing over the unconscious filly. Tears streamed from her eyes.
* * * * *
Cadance opened her eyes and found herself in cold, grey darkness. Every part of her body hurt. She looked around. "Auntie?" she whimpered. "Anypony? Hello?"
She struggled to her hooves, sniffling at the pain. Wherever she was, it was grey and cold and empty.
And then suddenly, it was still cold and grey, but it was no longer empty. The cold place filled with a cold white mist. On the edge of the mist, in every direction she looked, she saw the outlines of ponies. She couldn't see their faces, and none of them spoke, but she could feel them.
They were miserable. They were sad. They were lost. They were scared. All happiness, all joy, all love had left them.
She tried to go to them, but she didn't get any closer, no matter how many steps she took. She flexed her wings, but they hurt too much to take off. So, she plopped down on her rump, bowed her head, and cried.
WHY DO YOU WEEP? YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE WARM.
Cadance looked up, startled. The voice had not come from any of the sad, lost ponies. It had come from all around her—no, from inside her. And the voice was cold, yet clear. It reminded her of the ringing of the crystal bell at her school.
"It's c-cold here," Cadance whimpered. "And I'm scared. And those ponies...they're s-scared too. And s-sad. It's making me sad."
YOU CAN FEEL THEIR SORROW? YOU CAN FEEL THEIR SUFFERING?
"Yes."
YOU MUST BE A SPECIAL CHILD INDEED. ...TELL ME, SPECIAL CHILD. IF IT WERE YOURS TO GIVE, WOULD YOU GIVE THESE SUFFERING PONIES WARMTH? WOULD YOU GIVE THEM LOVE?
"I-I'd help them find love. It's...it's my special talent. Helping ponies f-find love."
THEY CANNOT FIND LOVE IN THIS DARK PLACE. THEY NEED A BEACON. THEY NEED TO KNOW WARMTH AND LOVE. ONLY LOVE CAN GUIDE THEM OUT OF THE DARKNESS.
"I...I'm just a little filly..." Cadance fidgeted with her hooves. "I'm not...I'm just a filly..."
THEY WILL WAIT FOR YOU. I WILL WAIT FOR YOU. YOU WILL COME TO US. YOU WILL BRING WARMTH. YOU WILL BRING LOVE.
The mist grew thicker and rushed in on Cadance. It felt as though she was being buried in snow. For a fleeting moment, she caught a glimpse of a dark, terrifying shape in the whiteness...
* * * * *
"Your Highness!" the doctor cried. "Look!"
Celestia gasped, staring at her niece. Cadance's eyelids twitched and fluttered. "Oh, thank goodness," Celestia breathed. Cadance had lain motionless for several hours—Celestia honestly had no idea what time it was, and in fact had failed to lower the sun and raise the moon on schedule, leading to an awkward moment when the captain of her Guard tracked her down to remind her of her most important duty.
The filly's eyes opened...and a bright white light poured forth from them. Celestia took a step back, confused and afraid. "Cadance...?"
The white light swirled outward, surrounding Cadance and lifting her off the bed. The light gradually shifted from its painfully intense white to a cool, clear, glassy blue as it washed over every inch of the filly's body.
"What's happening?" the doctor asked, staring at the glowing, floating pony.
"I—I don't know," Celestia breathed.
A heart-shaped explosion of cold blue light burst forth from Cadance, passing over Celestia and the doctor like a shockwave. In its wake, they felt intense, serene warmth and love.
As the light faded, Celestia watched her niece slowly descend to the floor. Once more, she gasped in shock. "It's not possible...!"
A short pink horn peeked through Cadance's mane, which had inexplicably developed streaks of rose and cream, as had her tail.
The doctor's jaw dropped. "What...?!"
Cadance opened her eyes and blinked up at her aunt. "Auntie Celestia? What...what happened?"
"I..." Celestia started, stopped, shook her head, opened her mouth to speak, then finally gave up and conjured a full-length mirror. "See for yourself."
Cadance stepped up to the mirror, looked at herself, and gasped. "My mane!"
Celestia's eye twitched. "That's the first thing you noticed? Not the fact that you have a horn?!"
Cadance blinked, then stared at herself. Her eyes crossed as she tried to look up at the new protrusion jutting from her skull. "I grew a horn?"
Celestia began pacing, her wings rustling restlessly. "An alicorn. You've become an alicorn. I foolishly cast an unknown spell, and it turned you into an alicorn. Okay. This is not a problem. You're alive, you're awake, you're not an orange or a rock or a chupacabra. That's all that matters." She suddenly rushed over to Cadance and swept her up into a hug. "I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?"
"Uhh...yeah, I think I can manage," Cadance said, blushing. "Could you...let go just a little?"
Celestia stepped away, abashed. Her gaze flickered to Cadance's flank, and she did a double-take. "Your Cutie Mark...!"
"Huh?" Cadance turned to peer at her own flank, and her eyes bugged out. "It changed!"
What had been a cluster of heart-shaped bubbles was now a large, beautiful crystal heart, nestled upon two gilded branches.
"I've...I've never heard of a Cutie Mark changing before," the doctor breathed.
"It's virtually impossible to change a pony's Cutie Mark," Celestia said softly. "A mark of one's destiny..." Her head snapped up. "A mark of one's destiny!"
"The spell!" Cadance said.
"I should destroy that tome immediately," Celestia said darkly. "Nopony should ever have access to that spell again. It's too dangerous."
"Auntie, wait!" Cadance said. "Don't...don't destroy it. It's Starswirl's last masterpiece, right? It belongs in a museum. Or maybe..." She paused. "Maybe someday, somepony will be able to figure out what went wrong, or...or what that spell's supposed to do. Somepony who can understand why Starswirl the Bearded would create such a dangerous spell."
Celestia took a deep breath. "Perhaps you're right," she said. She tilted her head. "Suddenly transforming into an alicorn has made you wise, Cadenza."
Cadance growled. "Auntie..." she warned. "I told you not to call me that!"
And suddenly, the ruler of Equestria was at the mercy of a flying full-wing tickle attack from her ten-year-old niece.
* * * * *
Cadance looked out over the crystal streets. The shining crystal ponies smiled at each other and talked happily, prancing and laughing and playing. The Crystal Heart floated serenely, shedding its warmth to the very borders of the Crystal Empire.
She heard a soft flutter of wings behind her, followed by the soft tink of golden horseshoes landing on crystal. "The crystal ponies look happy and well," Celestia said.
Cadance smiled. "All thanks to Twilight Sparkle," she said.
"While it is true that Twilight Sparkle made all of this possible," Celestia said, "it is you, Princess Cadance, who will sustain them. In times of peril, an empire needs a hero. In times of peace, it needs a leader. You are that leader."
Cadance looked at the Crystal Heart. "I know what Starswirl the Bearded's unfinished spell does now," she said.
Celestia blinked. "Why would you bring that up at a time like this?"
Cadance turned to face her aunt. "A mark of one's destiny, singled out—"
"I remember the words," Celestia snapped. Her eyes softened. "Sorry."
"I never told you this, but..." Cadance looked at the Crystal Heart. "After that spell hit me, I saw...a grey place, with suffering ponies. A voice spoke to me. In all the years since I became an alicorn, I've never been able to understand what I saw that day. Until now." She turned to face Celestia again. "It was the Crystal Heart, Auntie. The Crystal Heart called out to me...it changed my destiny." She waved a hoof at the streets full of happy crystal ponies. "Whatever my destiny was when I was a little filly, that destiny died that day. From that day forward, I was destined to rule the Crystal Empire." She smiled. "The moment I laid eyes on the Crystal Heart...I knew. After all..." She waved a hoof at the Crystal Heart. "I've been wearing it on my flank since I was ten."
Celestia smiled wonderingly at her niece. "You know, Cadance? I believe you might just be right."
Cadance raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "You knew. You've known all along."
"Not until recently," Celestia said. "But yes, I did finally learn the purpose of Starswirl's spell. And..." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Soon...very soon...it will be time for the spell to be cast once more..."
